Reuben Fine

Just recently read an article on TechCrunch on A VC’s Advice On How To Pitch VCs by Raj Kapoor founder of Snapfish. Here is a copy of the article below:

Editor’s Note: In this guest post, Raj Kapoor gives entreprenuers advice on how to pitch VCs. Kapoor knows both sides of the equation. For the past five years, he’s been a VC at the Mayfield Fund. Before that he founded the photo site Snapfish, which he sold to Hewlett-Packard.

Its been almost five years now that I’ve been in venture capital.  I finally know what i don’t know.

The one thing I do know is how to give better advice on pitching VCs now that I’ve sat through hundreds of pitches and made 8 investments.  I gave some advice in an earlier post—this one builds on it at a deeper level (three years later)

I’ve mentioned in the past that there are some key things you should include in your presentation when you are pitching a VC.  David Cowan’s post on what to include is a great starting point.  I thought I would expand on this and add some of the nuances within each section. This may not apply to all types of companies but I think it works for internet-related businesses.

Also, I’ve found that if all the informoation below is addressed succinctly in an executive summary or first pitch deck, it can help us make a much faster decision —which is what the entrepreneur wants and so do we.  If we believe the story is lacking in too many areas, sometimes we just pass as there is too much else going on. At the same time, providing too much information is a problem as, like you, we are time-strapped and attention-starved.  I think most of the points below can be addressed in a few compelling sentences or slides.

1. What Do You Do? The first thing we want to understand is what you do, very simply.   What’s the problem/solution or what’s the new experience that you think is exciting?  Why is this important to your customers?  For mass-market internet businesses we want to understand if this appeals to a wide or narrow audience and if it’s a frequent (daily) habit or something done once in a while (which is tougher to build a brand in the consumers mind).  Don’t talk vision or market at this point.  Zero in on what you are about.
2. Reveal Your End Game. VCs typically don’t invest in just the first product or service being the end game or in a company’s whose biggest goal in life is to be a feature of a platform or “add-on” acquisition.  We want to understand that your product has really big potential and could be a platform possibly for others—like Facebook or Twitter.  Don’t be afraid to dream a bit.  Here’s an example from one of my companies -  “Rubicon Project will start solving the sharp pain point of optimizing ad networks for publishers and will leverage this position to be the trusted platform to help monetize all inventory for a publisher – the Control HQ for all revenue for web publishers”.  You won’t be penalized for having audacious goals.
3. What Is The True Size Of Your Market?  No, Really.  The important point here is whether it’s a big enough market to be interesting to a VC.   Too often entrepreneurs simply state the size of the online ad market for an internet content business or the size of a retail category for e-commerce sectors.   We’re less interested in the top down market sizing and more focused on your Total Addressable Market (TAM).  If you sell widgets, how many customers are really out there that are interested in your widget (segment the market) times what price you get for your widget.  The more thoughtful and realistic you are about how you define the customer set, the faster we can make a decision.  We don’t mind getting surprised on the upside later on.
4. The Secret Ingredient Is People.  Teams are critical and too little time is spent on them in pitches.  Don’t just include where you’ve worked but include in your slide or exec summary why this team is the best for this opportunity.  In many businesses, domain expertise matters a lot, so highlight that.  In some consumer businesses, its less about experience and more about product insight and relentless execution—highlight why you have that.  In other words, figure out what’s most important to the task at hand and make sure to tell us how each person will help accomplish that—not just where everyone worked and went to school.  In an early stage deal, Team and Market are the most important factors as everything else will change and a great team with wind at their backs will make it happen.  Also, be upfront about your holes/weaknesses in the team (and your own weaknesses) and if and when you believe you will need a new CEO.  Self awareness is one of the most important traits we look for in leaders.
5. Go-To-Market Strategy.   This is often ignored or not given enough thought.  What is the path of least resistance that you can take in terms of customers (be specific here), channels, and initial product focus.  Your go-to-market strategy should ideally be in your control (versus reliant on big, unproven partnerships) and take as much risk off the table as possible in the least amount of time.  You need to go through customer acquisition economics if you pay for customers (lifetime value vs CPA) and why you will spread for free if you don’t require marketing.   Address how you will make it as painless as possible for consumers to adopt the solution and how you will build on top of that.  Also, your go-to-market focus should not force you into a niche that’s hard to maneuver out of.
6. Be Honest About What Stage You Are At.  We need to understand what stage your company is at.  Are you at the idea stage or pre-traction in terms of customers and momentum?  Do you have momentum but are still working out the business model?  Or do you have both momentum and a solid understanding and proof behind the model.  The clearer you are about where you are, the faster we can make a decision.  Be upfront and honest on the risks and how you will deal with them.  If you have momentum, show graphs of key metrics over time (not just a snapshot of where you are)—we want to understand the shape of your growth curves and how your key metrics are performing against your expectations.
7. Your Real Competitive Advantage is Being Different In The Long Term.  On the internet, there are at least 25 companies that are or can compete with you on almost anything you do.  Often times, it’s all about execution but we want to see if there are fundamental factors which will help you outdo your competition—very hard technology/IP, network effects in your business that will make it hard for others to catch up (such as with Wikipedia, Google AdSense, Facebook, Twitter) or a fundamentally different business model that will be hard for an incumbent to change (for instance, it wouldn’t be easy for Electronic Arts to cannibalize its retail games with free to play online versions).  While we want you to list all your competitors (be exhaustive otherwise we won’t have confidence you know your business and have done your homework), its not useful to only show a chart of your competitors comparing features or positioning on a 2×2 chart.  That is a very static view and any competitor worth their salt will morph and/or expand features to keep up with competition.  If its all about execution and there are no fundamental advantages, then you should focus on why your team will out-execute all the others (a tougher sell but possible).
8. Product, Product, Product.  If it’s a live pitch, a demo is really key—but keep it short and to the point.  Don’t go into all the cool features—we are most focused on how its simple, intuitive, solves the problem and how well built it is and frictionless from a user experience point of view.  You can talk about some of the cool new features but the first meeting isn’t about going through your product requirements.  If it’s part of an executive summary or deck, this is harder but at least a few screenshots of the key experience flow are helpful.
9. Plausible Financials.  It’s tough to create believable projections for an early stage company.  I suggest showing what it takes to get to $50M or $100M of revenue in terms of customers, products, pricing, and so forth, as that’s what we are focused on.  Show a simple table of key assumptions to get there and speak to why its believable.  We also want to know how much capital you think you will consume to get sustainably cash flow positive so the nitty gritty forecasts do matter—but be able to explain the key drivers and why its capital efficient (profitable under $5-10M of investment) or requires significant investment.
10. The Ask.  Make sure to put down how much you want to raise.  Often a range is a good strategy as it usually depends on the valuation/dilution.  But there should be a minimum amount that makes sense to significantly reduce the risks in the business.  Importantly, highlight what risks you will remove and what momentum you expect to have about 6 months before you run out of cash.  We are very focused on whether we will be able to successfully raise a round at a higher valuation, so tell us what you think it will take to do that.

I hope this helps.  If you can nail the  points above, it can be a 30-45 minute meeting and I think you’ll get a quicker and more definitive answer from a VC.  Good luck with your pitch!

Photo credit: Flickr/Adam Bales

 Source: Techcrunch

So here is the follow-up article to the "How To Calculate Start-Up Costs" I forwared the other day… check it out… 

Reuben

***

By COLLEEN DEBAISE

Adapted from the upcoming book THE WALL STREET JOURNAL COMPLETE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDEBOOK (Three Rivers Press, Dec. 29, 2009).

Now that you've calculated how much you need (see "How to Calculate Start-Up Costs", next comes the tricky part: getting your hands on the cash. Keep in mind, lenders such as traditional banks don't find start-up ventures with minimal cash flow and unproven track records to be attractive clients.

Here are the top sources of funding for most small-business owners:

1. Personal Savings

Your first financial resource for starting a business will always be your personal stash. Exactly how much you should dig into your own pocket can depend on your life stage. A thirty-year-old single person who's built up a sizable savings is in a different situation than a forty-year-old parent who's the sole breadwinner for a family. There are, however, a few rules of thumb. One is to not use all of your savings. Keep a good chunk of money in your savings or money market account not only for personal needs but also as a reserve for unplanned expenses that might arise in the first year of your business. Another rule of thumb: don't be tempted by retirement savings.

2. Family and Friends

There's a reason why cash from family and friends is often called "love money": usually no one else will fund a newbie entrepreneur's dreams. Babson College has found that two-thirds of the average $65,000 needed to launch a business comes from the entrepreneur's savings, while the balance comes from informal investors— most typically, family members and friends. Make sure the people putting up the money are fully aware that they might lose it all, advises Babson professor William Bygrave. It's best if the money is a gift, but you can also structure the transaction as a loan or, more rarely, give away an ownership stake.

3. Credit Cards

It's tempting to use plastic to fund your start-up. And many entrepreneurs do, particularly when other options are so limited. Research from the SBA found that the number of small businesses carrying debt rose 25 percent in 2005 as a result of credit cards. But it's important to understand the risks before racking up too much credit card debt. A good word to keep in mind is easy— it's easy to get the money, but it's also easy to get in over your head.

4. Home Equity Loans or Lines of Credit

About 30 percent of small business owners tap into home equity to help finance their business, according to Discover Small Business Watch. In recent years, as the housing market has collapsed in many areas of the countries, securing a home equity loan or line of credit has become far more difficult. You'll need to make sure your credit history is strong, and you'll likely have to show that you or your spouse has a dependable source of income to repay the loan. Keep in mind, if the business doesn't succeed and you default on the loan, you could lose your home.

5. Grants and Contests

It's not easy to find free money for your business. But for a particularly creative or diligent entrepreneur, it's possible. Some state and local governments offer incentives to encourage business development in underserved areas or struggling industries. A number of business groups, such as the National Association for the Self-Employed, offer modest sums of grant money to small employers. Numerous companies that cater to small business customers— think Dell or UPS— routinely run contests that offer prizes of cash, equipment or services.

Write to Colleen DeBaise at colleen.debaise@wsj.com

Browsing through the WSJ Online Small Business section and stumbled on this interesting article… check it out!

***

By COLLEEN DEBAISE

Adapted from the upcoming book THE WALL STREET JOURNAL COMPLETE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDEBOOK (Three Rivers Press, Dec. 29, 2009).

Got a pen handy? To best estimate your start-up costs, you'll need to make a list— and the more detailed the better. A smart way to start is to brainstorm everything you'll need, from tangible goods (such as inventory, equipment and fixtures) to professional services (such as remodeling, advertising and legal work). Then, start calculating how much you'll need to pay for all those goods and services.

Some of the expenses incurred during the start-up phase will be one-time costs, such as the fee for printing up your brochures, creating your LLC or acquiring a permit, while others will be ongoing, such as rent, insurance or employees' salaries. In general, it's best to use a two-step process. First, come up with an estimate of one-time costs needed to get your doors open, and then develop an operating budget for the first six months or even the first year of the business. Check out the Better Business Bureau's sample worksheet here.

The categories listed below will aid you in completing your list of costs for opening and operating a small business:

Location. Think about how much you'll need to pay for rent, to make improvements to the space or for full-scale renovations.

Inventory. Figure out the cost of raw materials, plus any production costs, or the wholesale prices of products you'll be selling. Calculate shipping and packaging costs, sales commissions and other costs related to the sale of your product.

Equipment. Add up how much it costs to buy or lease computers, copiers, telephones, heavy-duty machinery or other fixtures.

Employees. Calculate salaries and wages, plus benefits you would offer, and don't forget payroll-related taxes, overtime pay and workers' compensation.

Marketing. Figure out how much you'll pay for new stationery, marketing materials, advertising campaigns, the sign above your door and meals or entertainment with clients.

Administrative and operational costs. Keep track of how much you'll need to pay for insurance (to protect against property damage, business interruption and floods) and office supplies. Don't forget utilities, a commonly overlooked expense, and other charges, such as phone and Internet service, cleaning and property maintenance.

Professional fees and permits. Add up how much you'll pay for your attorney, accountant or other advisor or consultant. Factor in what you'll need to pay for permits or licenses related to your business.

If you're still having trouble figuring out how much money you need, do research on other companies in your industry and region of the country. Talk to other business owners about how they figured out start-up costs— and ask specifically about expenses they forgot. The SBA offers free counseling through its Small Business Development Centers and its affiliate, SCORE. You can also seek advice from an accountant or attorney accustomed to dealing with small businesses.

When in doubt about your projections, you should always err on the side of overestimating your up-front investment cost and underestimating sales. Eric van Merkensteijn, a University of Pennsylvania business professor who left academia in the late 1990s to open a restaurant in Philadelphia, offers this advice: Figure out your start-up costs, then double that number. Then double it again. Only then will you have a realistic number, says the professor, who closed the business in 2004 and returned to campus.

Written by Colleen DeBaise at colleen.debaise@wsj.com

2009 Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch Competition Oct 8th from 6pm-8pm

When:  Thursday, October 8, 2009 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Where:

Qualcomm Q-Auditorium
6455 Lusk Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92121

Pitches:

Congratulations to the 2009 Quick Pitch Competition Finalists

Santech, Inc.
Dr. Sheri Thompson, V.P. Business Development
www.santechhealth.com

PlayScreen
William Volk, CEO
www.playscreen.com

IRESE, Inc.
Vlad Krutik, CEO
www.irese.com

Qualight Superconductor Technologies
Andrew Bolland, CEO
www.qualightscp.com

Radical Therapeutix, Inc.
Roberta A. Gottlieb, President and CEO

SynergyMT
Matt Maurer, President
www.synergymt.com

Perminova, Inc.
Scott C. Patridge,CFO
www.Perminova.com

Nextivity, Inc.
George Lamb, VP Operations and Support
www.nextivityinc.com

Cofio Software
Tony Cerqueira, CEO
www.cofio.com

NeuroTransit
Michael Dunn, President and CEO
www.neurotransit.com

ecoATM
Mark Bowles, CEO

Biological Dynamics, Inc.
Raj Krishnan, CEO
www.biologicaldynamics.com

Quantum Solar, Inc.
Edward H. Deese, CEO

Trinity Orthopedics, LLC
James F. Marino, CEO/Founder
www.trinity-ortho.com

P&E Automation, Inc.
Deanna Bebb, President
www.power-and-energy.com

Multimeric Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Marc Hertz, CEO
www.multimericbio.com

PT Motion Works, Inc.
Bryan Pate, Co-Founder & Co-President
www.elliptigo.com 

Read more about it here at CONNECT.org http://www.connect.org/programs/tech-coast-angels/quickpitch/

I will be attending, representing InLab Ventures. Email me if you are going so we can connect! rfine@inlabventures.com

Reuben

Not all seed money you raise has to come from VC or Established Angels. Many entrepreneurs start at home. 

Rey and I did. First, we liquidated everything we had that was valuable. I sold my prized motorcycle.

Those funds lasted us a good year… then we needed bigger investment.

Luckily we were in the “Launch” portion of our Entrepreneur curriculum so we were already structuring and practicing our prospectus pitches. 

We arranged a meeting with our immediate family in a board room we rented from the Student Union facility. 

An hour later, we were celebrating over dinner at Claim Jumper with our new seed investors… mom and dad! 

We raised just enough to show “proof of concept.” I think that’s a great place to start and a great pitch to family and friends. The really big, $1,000,000, money comes from VCs and Angels…

Here is a great article I found on WSJ Small Business Section about raising capital from family and friends:

 

Budding entrepreneurs often turn to a lender that overlooks weak points, provides flexible terms, and offers a dream-come-true interest rate: the Bank of Mom or Dad. Without an established track record, start-ups often have trouble getting a traditional bank loan or funding from venture or angel investors. So after tapping their savings, founders often turn to informal investors, which usually means family members and friends.

Such arrangements combine best wishes, a pay-me-when-you-can attitude, and few expectations of a meaningful return. That might be the most realistic view of family and friends financing. So in many cases, it might be wise to not formalize the loan since doing so can raise expectations that it will be repaid in full.

 Read more: http://guides.wsj.com/small-business/funding/how-to-borrow-from-family-and-friends/

Tips on Raising Money:

• If it’s unlikely that a loan won’t be paid back in full, it might be wise to not formalize the terms since doing so can raise expectations.
• Online services can help structure loan arrangements between family and friends.
• Make sure there aren’t unspoken strings attached to a family loan.

http://guides.wsj.com/small-business/funding/how-to-borrow-from-family-and-friends/

Resources:

Virgin Money - Online service to help you structure your seed money between mom, dad, and your new start-up! http://www.virginmoneyus.com/

Prosper

By DIANA RANSOM

Venture-capital firms remain on the prowl for new businesses, but it's more of a stroll than a hunt.

Venture-capital investing fell to $3.7 billion in the second quarter, down more than 50% from $7.6 billion in the year-ago period, according to the latest MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Although that second-quarter sum represented a 15% jump over the prior quarter, the number of deals remained flat at 603, PwC said.

Many sources — including big pension funds, college endowments and, in some cases, high-net-worth individuals — have failed to meet commitments to some funds, making this one of the most challenging environments for venture capital since the dawn of the industry, says Howie Schwartz, a director at the FundingPost, a networking group for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. "No one is admitting this, but we're seeing it anecdotally," he says.

To capture funding today, entrepreneurs have to do a lot more than present a lucrative business model and pick the right management team, says Mark Davis, an associate at DFJ Gotham Ventures, a VC firm in New York. Today, VCs are increasingly attuned to a company's ability to manage the rate at which they burn through investment dollars, he says. Since it'll likely take longer for companies to make it big or get bought out, they'll be expected to make do with less for longer, Davis says.

Read the full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125382416318638675.html

Wow… what a great idea for a show.

Of course the drama is excessively played into, but for the most part it's a entertaining program. If you haven't seen it here is a link to the HULU episodes. I'm still watching through the season and there are a ton of great and not-so-great pitches. 

I take away from this a excellent study of the "30-Sec Elevator" pitch… see it for yourself: http://www.hulu.com/shark-tank

Reuben

"We Have Liftoff!"

As scheduled, Pipeline Producer - real estate flyers made quick, simple, and easy - has officially launched and is in flight.

We have been busy with our new redesign, so if you haven't been to the site lately, it looks a bit different now! Come take a look here!  

Pipeline Producer is a simple to use real estate marketing web application that creates flyers and promotional marketing materials for real estate. We've spend almost 2 years and countless hours building, testing, and refining the system to simplify and make the user experience quick, simple, and easy; saving agent time, money, and effort.

The Pipeline Producer system has been streamlined to specialize in one thing: produce PROPERTY FLYER MARKETING. The whole marketing process is completed within 15 minutes. How is this possible? Well, we’ve built an smart process that auto-populates the property information and pictures into a: Flyer, Postcard, and Door hanger form… but wait, it gets better; Pipeline Producer also automatically creates: Standard, Just Listed, Open House Invitation, and Just Sold variations of each form! Meaning, you don’t have to wait for marketing variations anymore, just download and print the flyer that fits your current property status! Cool, huh?

Pipeline Producer is web-based and is accessible worldwide, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Since the service is on-line, there is no downloading of software which makes Pipeline Producer highly attractive to real estate agents that don't want to bother with downloading and install complex applications. Additionally, agents can access, make, or reprint remotely through any internet connection; meaning, for those busy, on the go, Top Producer agents, they don't have to be bound to the office all the time just to create flyers. All marketing materials are made in high resolution 300 dpi, full color bleed, PDF form and can be download and printed on any computer/printer or taken to any professional print shop. 

Pipeline Producer's service and distinctive designs are available now for one fixed yearly UNLIMITED USE fee of $297.00. Yes, you heard it right: UNLIMITED USE for ONE (1) FIXED yearly fee. Make as many flyers as you need, we do not charge per design or per re-editing. There are no hidden fees, no catch, and no, you are not required to use our printing service.

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To celebrate our launch, if you'd like to use the Pipeline Producer service now, fill out the request form below and I'll send you a promotional $### discount code, over ##% off the regular yearly fee. This discount is good for one account only, hence the form requirement and not a universal code. The $## discount will apply to a 1 year Unlimited Access account, making a Pipeline Producer account $###.00 for this year.

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Thanks,

I frequently get e-mail from people seeking book recommendations. Most messages are like the one Cody sent yesterday: “What is the first book that I should read that tells me how to invest?” These are easy to answer. In January, Bobby asked a broader question:

I was wondering if you have a list of PF books that you have in your personal library. I use the library frequently and am very interested in furthering my own education in the PF area. It is also a personal goal for 2007 (one educational book a month.)

This is a great goal and a great question. Eventually I’ll have a subsection of this site devoted to personal finance books. But for today, I’ll list the books I refer to frequently. (These aren’t all the books I own — I own many that aren’t worth having.) I’ve marked the books I consider essential with a happy star .

Please note that these recommendations are based on how well a particular book has worked for me. Your mileage may vary.

Basic Personal Finance

These books offer a wide view, discussing many aspects of money. They offer advice about saving, investing, and getting out of debt. They don’t go into much detail about any one subject, but they provide motivation to get started. And that’s what’s most important.

The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley and Danko

The authors interview and survey a pool of millionaires, attempting to find common connections among them. They discover that millionaires live below their means. They budget. They let their adult children make it on their own. This book introduces several key concepts, including degrees of wealth accumulation. It’s a bit tedious in spots, at least in the audio version. This is one of just a few books to cover both sides of the wealth equation: saving money and earning money. [My review.]

Your Money or Your Life by Dominguez and Robbins

A classic, and one of the foundation books for the simplicity movement. The authors play off the concept “time is money” in a very literal sense. They encourage readers to sort out priorities, to cut expenses, and then to seek passive income in pursuit of financial independence. A little New Age-y in spots. An excellent book. [Frykitty reviewed this book last year.]

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

Ramsey is an anti-credit zealot. He made a $4 million fortune by his mid-twenties, and then lost it to bankruptcy. Now he runs a personal finance empire. He takes a lot of criticism for his support of the Debt Snowball, which he describes in detail here, but the thing is: his methods work. If you are struggling with debt, there is no better starting place than this book. Ramsey’s advice is permeated with his Christianity, but you can get a lot out of this book even if you’re not religious.

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

This book offers good, general personal finance advice in the guise of a novel. Several friends meet once a month at the barber shop where the titular character dispenses wisdom on saving, investing, buying a house, and so on. The advice here is excellent, often backed by clear examples. The book’s conversational tone may appeal to some who might otherwise be turned off by personal finance. [My review.]

The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason

Clason offers personal finance wisdom in the form of parables. These nuggets of wisdom were originally distributed as pamphlets at banks and insurance companies during the 1920s. The most popular were collected into book form. This is the grand-daddy of personal finance (Benjamin Franklin is the great-granddaddy), and many of modern admonitions — “Pay yourself first”, “Invest for the future”, “Learn the power of compound interest” — can be found here.

Frugality

Saving money is a key skill to develop if you hope to get rich. (Read The Millionaire Next Door if you don’t believe me.) Here are four books that can help you learn to cut corners, to save money in ways that may not have occurred to you.

How to Live Well Without Owning a Car by Chris Balish

Balish begins by explaining why you’re better off not owning a car — financially, ecologically, and socially. He spends the rest of the book describing how to survive without one. He offers tips for mass transit, walking, bicycling, and more. This book has a narrow focus. But if you’re in its target audience, it’s worth a read.

Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Sometimes it’s the most unassuming of books that offers the best advice, that can actively help you on your quest to get rich slowly. Miserly Moms is ostensibly a guide for stay-at-home mothers, but is actually filled with useful tips for anyone who is concerned with frugality (especially parents with young children). [My review.]

The Joy of Simple Living by Jeff Davidson

This book is packed with tips. Davidson covers a wide range of topics, and for each he offers several ways to save money. If this book were a weblog, it would feature digg-able entry after digg-able entry. A great resource for anyone wanting to cut down the clutter of life.

Wealth on Minimal Wage by James Steamer

If you’re a young adult just starting in life, this book is a fine choice. It offers hundreds of ideas on how to avoid debt, maximize your wages, save on insurance and utilities, and generally live a frugal lifestyle. A bit out of date, and maybe a little radical, but filled with good advice. (I’ve had a copy out from the public library for six months. It’s been battered and worn by previous patrons — a sure sign of a good book.)

Another highly-regarded book on frugality is The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. I’ve never read it, but it’s near the top of my list of books to borrow from the library.

Investing

This set of books deals specifically with investing. The four books I keep at hand are user-friendly. They’re not technical, but offer a good introduction to the topic.

The Automatic Millioinaire by David Bach

There’s more to David Bach than “the latté factor”. The system he recommends here is excellent. If you’ve been meaning to open an IRA, but have never actually done so, then read this book! He’ll explain how to set it up so that it’s painless. (It was from Bach that I learned about Sharebuilder.)

The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias

Andrew Tobias is an entertaining writer. His jocular, conversational tone will keep you interested as he describes mutual funds, bonds, and treasury bills. There’s a good section on how to handle a windfall (lottery, inheritance). This is an excellent introduction to the subject of investing.

The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Larimore, Lindauer, and LeBoeuf

You want expet investment advice? You can’t beat the info found here. These devotees of Vanugard founder John Bogle are big on slow, sure investments like indexed mutual funds. They tap their decades of experience to teach about diversification, inflation, and asset allocation. It’s not nearly as boring as it sounds. Highly recommended.

Yes, You Can…Achieve Financial Independence by James Stowers

Despite the odd title, this is a solid book on investment from one of the richest men in America. It does cover some basic personal finance information, but mostly gives tips on how to invest. I haven’t read the entire book, but I often use it as reference when preparing entries here. It’s a sort of bridge between overviews like Tobias and more technical books like Graham or Malkiel.

Two other classics on investing are The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham and A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel. I have both, but have read neither. They’re both quite technical.

Success

Wealth is about more than money. These books will help you become a well-rounded person, will help you develop skills that will indirectly aid your personal finances.

50 Success Classics by Tom Butler-Bowdon

Butler-Bowdon selected fifty important books from success literature. For each, he created digest versions, summarizing each volume in only a few pages, distilling its key points. He also provided biographical information on each author, and attempted to explain why each book is relevant, placing it in a larger context. This is a wonderful way to find other books to read. [My review.]

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

There’s a little personal finance advice here (all of it solid), but mostly this book is about changing the way you think about money and about yourself. I found Secrets inspirational. It’s a good choice for somebody with big goals, or somebody trying to overcome negative thinking. [My review.]

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

One of the classic success books. Carnegie uses anecdote after anecdote to illustrate the best way to make the most of human relations. It all boils down to this: “To win others to your way of thinking, put yourself in their shoes.” The devil is in the details, though, and Carnegie’s simple prose does a fine job of pointing the way. You can find this book cheap at almost any used book store. [My review.]

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Little needs to be said about this book — it’s a geek classic. Allen describes his formalized system for creating greater efficiency. Though I’ve found it difficult to maintain the precise system for long, I use elements of it all the time. If you have trouble procrastinating or staying organized, this book is for you. [My review.]

Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi

I’ve been meaning to review this book for weeks. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Parts of it are fantastic — you can learn how to relate to people, how to establish contacts and maintain connections, how to create a social network. But parts of it are creepy — networking for the sake of networking puts me off. The endless name-dropping gets old fast. Worth reading if you have contact with a wide group of people.

One book that’s not in my library is What Color is Your Parachute? This is a classic on changing careers. I’m locked into Get Rich Slowly and the family box factory, but if I were job hunting, I would pick up a copy of this book without hesitation.

You can read more here- Source: GetRichSlowly

From an article posted on CNN.com - Business 2.0: Go Green, Get Rich

The background: More than 850 million people live in a state of hunger.

The solution: Nutriset, a private French company, has a hit on its hands. Plumpy'nut, its patented nutritional supplement, was distributed to an estimated 500,000 children last year - double the number in 2005 and up from just 120,000 in 2004. One 3-ounce packet delivers 500 calories. Plumpy'nut is a thick brown paste made from ground peanuts, sugar, and powdered milk, fortified with vitamins and minerals. Plumpy'nut isn't perishable and travels easily.

The payoff: Orders from big buyers like Unicef helped Nutriset's sales topped $25 million in 2006, up from $6.5 million in 2001. Nutriset reinvests 80 percent of its profit - or about $2.5 million during the past year - into developing new products, and the firm is partnering with entrepreneurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Niger to produce Plumpy'nut locally.

The opportunity: With no direct competitors and so many hungry people on the planet, Nutriset's future growth looks certain. Sometimes the best solution to a big problem is a small one.

 Source: CNN.com Go Green, Get Rich